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New Delhi:
The first batch of Indian personnel in the Maldives has been replaced by technical personnel, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.
“The turnover of the first batch of personnel operating the ALH helicopter has been completed. So, the first batch of personnel who had to be replaced has been completed. The turnover has taken place,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a weekly briefing.
It is worth noting that the Maldives government led by Mohammad Muizou has officially requested India to withdraw its troops from Male.
The Ministry of External Affairs earlier informed that India and Maldives have agreed on a mutually workable solution to enable Indian aviation platforms to continue operations to provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of Maldives.
Last month, the MEA said the first batch of Indian technicians arrived in the Maldives to replace defense personnel.
India and the Maldives have held two high-level core group meetings and the third meeting is expected to take place soon.
Withdrawing troops from the country is a key campaign focus of Muizu’s party. Currently, about 70 Indian soldiers, Dornier 228 maritime patrol aircraft and two HAL Dhruv helicopters are stationed in the Maldives.
According to “The Edition” in the Maldives, Muizou recently stated again that “Indian military personnel” will not remain in the country after May 10, “whether in uniform or civilian clothes.”
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated his belief that the dispute with the Maldives will be resolved diplomatically.
He emphasized that India’s military personnel and aviation platforms in the Maldives work entirely for the benefit of the local people, and said that misunderstandings sometimes arise between the two countries.
“Humanity is humanity. Diplomacy is diplomacy and politics is politics. The whole world does not always run on obligations… So if we encounter such a situation, it can only be solved through diplomacy,” Jaishankar said at an event.
“We have to get people to understand that sometimes people don’t even have a complete understanding of things, and sometimes people are misled by what other people say,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
